How reliable is a W11 Defender "Full Scan"?
How reliable is a W11 Defender "Full Scan"?
I was searching for a fresh wallpaper for my brand new Asus TUF A15 laptop. I visited several hosting sites that seemed convenient but kept requiring me to complete CAPTCHAs and enable notifications—things I did without thinking. The process repeatedly restarted, so I eventually moved the task elsewhere. While I was playing Cyberpunk and switching tabs, fake "VIRUS ALERT" pop-ups appeared in my Chrome sidebar. I attempted to adjust Chrome settings to block the offending site, but popups blocked the area, forcing me to close a tab quickly. After revoking permissions, the issue disappeared, though I remained concerned. A full Windows Defender scan later revealed no threats, taking about half an hour on a 512GB SSD. My worry is whether this pattern indicates a problem or just a coincidence.
It seems trustworthy, but you might also consider using Malwarebytes. Regardless, since your laptop is very new, you could simply reinstall the operating system for extra security.
In recent years defender performs quite well compared to major players regarding window-related issues. It has a notable weakness around adware in your web browser, though. I think you probably enabled notifications on a site, causing it to bombard you with ads unnoticed. Since I’m on mobile, I can’t check exactly where you changed notification settings, but someone else might be able to assist.
EDIT: I’m blind, so you’ve already done that. If you’ve removed the problematic permissions, it’s essentially the weakest adware form—just trying to make you feel concerned enough to pay for a fix they provide.
Windows Defender claims to be one of the top free antivirus options available, especially for enterprise use. It once ranked among the best paid solutions. For new systems, a fresh install often works well—restarting zero is usually preferable to hunting for fixes that might not exist or waste too much time. Backing up important data beforehand can save you a lot of trouble if something goes wrong. On my Linux setup, using snapshots helps a lot; restoring from a recent snapshot usually takes under ten minutes and gets things back on track quickly.
Only someone with an Arch User™ account would recall using snapshots, but everyone should do it.
Honestly, this situation feels a bit awkward for me. I’ve always believed that good AV comes from common sense, especially back in my early teens when I learned a lot about downloading questionable Minecraft mods. I never clicked on links, and now it seems the issue was something entirely new—a captcha I’ve never encountered before. A lesson learned, I suppose.